On Tue, 14 Sep 1999, Rick Adams wrote:
> The current attitude concerning distance education's perceived
> inferiority to traditional education is pure prejudice based on personal
> bias not on any rational factual basis....
Actually there are some empirical studies available comparing
components of distance and traditional education. One is "Benefits and
costs of integrating online web teaching into the principles of economics
class" by Nan Maxwell, Anthony Lima, and Kami Huntzinger at California State
University, Hayward. They can be reached at 510-885-3191 (voice) or
510-885-2602 (fax). The abstract is below.
David Campbell
Humboldt State Univ.
This study examines the benefits and costs of using online Web teaching in
the Principles of Macroeconomics course by estimating the learning gain,
attitude change toward the course, and the costs of adoption. We use a
model in which Web teaching is integrated into the class at three different
levels: a traditional class with little Web use; a traditional class with a
heavy integration of online Web teaching; and a class offered entirely
online through the Web. Although course materials were virtually identical
in all classes, we found that there were, at best, no learning gains and
decreased course satisfaction in the online class relative to the
traditional class. No learning or satisfaction change occurred in the class
with heavy Web augmentation as compared to the traditional class. Because
Web integration into the course comes at an extremely high cost, we question
the pedagogical potential of current online technologies to improve teaching
in the Principles of Economics course. A more interactive model of online
instruction might reduce the negative benefits of online instruction that
this study uncovered. However, we note that this type of instruction would
greatly increase costs of online instruction over those presented here.
